While an event hasn’t been held on the Huntsville prison grounds since 1986, the rodeo has a rich history dating back decades.

The Handbook of Texas Online says once the rodeo was created in 1931, it was a near-instant success: “Within two years public attendance swelled from a handful of outsiders to almost 15,000, prompting prison officials to erect wooden stands and charge admission. The revenue raised covered costs and subsidized an education and recreation fund that provided perquisites from textbooks and dentures to Christmas turkeys.”

The rodeos weren’t limited to traditional events like roping and riding, either. The Texas Prison Museum website describes a contest called "Hard Money," where inmates were placed in the arena with a charging bull that held a sack of cash between its horns. The first one to bring the sack back to the judges won.

The prison rodeo continued to capture the public’s imagination long after its last contest. For many, a memorable glimpse of the rodeo came in the film Urban Cowboy, which was filmed in the Huntsville area.